Mung Bean and Tapioca Pudding

I like Asian foods so much that sometimes I think that I should’ve been born in a place like Japan. So when I saw a pudding recipe in an issue of Anthology magazine a few months ago, I knew I had to try it. What took me so long? The recipe called for mung beans. I searched high and low at multiple Whole Foods and very small traditional Asian markets near my house with absolutely no luck.

About to give up and order them online, a visit to the third Whole Foods proved successful. A very nice man discovered them hiding behind some “normal” beans. He was so excited to solve my problem that he threw his arms up in the air like he’d just won a very important race. I was so happy that I didn’t even notice that they were green instead of yellow. Apparently, the green beans have the skins on them while the yellow are hulled. This resulted in a gray (blah!) pudding instead of the pretty yellow pictured in the magazine. I wouldn’t call it a complete fail, but due to my ways, I plan to try again very soon.

The good news is that the pudding tasted great. If you haven’t tried an Asian dessert with sweet beans, do it! Seriously—they are surprisingly delicious.